Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/501

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From 1667 to the close of the century, there was a rapid increase in the number of mills. The references to them in the description of metes and bounds in patents become more and more frequent.^[1] There are also many references to the transfers of this form of property.^[2] The details of the expense of erecting a building of this character at this time have been transmitted to us in the recorded account of a mill belonging to Edward Chisman of York. The stones and iron were imported from England at a cost of thirty-seven pounds and thirteen shillings.^[3] The remuneration of the millwright was ten thousand pounds of tobacco. The other items of expense were the labor of the sawyers in preparing the plank, of the smith in putting in the machinery, the wages of two persons in superintending the workingmen, the food and lodgings of the latter, the timber which entered into the construction of the building and the gates of the race, and finally the nails. The entire cost amounted to twenty-one thousand four hundred and five pounds of tobacco, equivalent in value to one hundred and seventy pounds sterling. It is interesting to note that the annual profits

↑ For an instance, see Records of Rappahannock County, vol. 1668-1672, p. 71, Va. State Library.
↑ Records of York County, vol. 1687-1691, p. 30, Va. State Library; Ibid., vol. 1684-1687, p. 9, Va. State Library. In 1676, a half-interest in a mill situated in York County, the property of John Heyward and his wife, was sold for twenty pounds sterling, one thousand pounds of Indian corn, and five bushels of English wheat. The twenty pounds sterling were to be paid in goods; and as an additional consideration, the purchaser agreed to grind the grain of Heyward free of toll. Ibid., vol. 1671-1694, p. 157, Va. State Library.
↑ The personal estate of Ralph Wormeley included a pair of French burr millstones. Records of Middlesex, original vol. 1694-1702, p. 126. A millstone owned by William Byrd, and used in his mill at Falling Creek, was valued at £40. See Records of Henrico County, vol. 1677-1699, orders, April 1, 1697.

[1] For an instance, see Records of Rappahannock County, vol. 1668-1672, p. 71, Va. State Library.

[2] Records of York County, vol. 1687-1691, p. 30, Va. State Library; Ibid., vol. 1684-1687, p. 9, Va. State Library. In 1676, a half-interest in a mill situated in York County, the property of John Heyward and his wife, was sold for twenty pounds sterling, one thousand pounds of Indian corn, and five bushels of English wheat. The twenty pounds sterling were to be paid in goods; and as an additional consideration, the purchaser agreed to grind the grain of Heyward free of toll. Ibid., vol. 1671-1694, p. 157, Va. State Library.

[3] The personal estate of Ralph Wormeley included a pair of French burr millstones. Records of Middlesex, original vol. 1694-1702, p. 126. A millstone owned by William Byrd, and used in his mill at Falling Creek, was valued at £40. See Records of Henrico County, vol. 1677-1699, orders, April 1, 1697.

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